The CEO's Baby Surprise

“My grandmother can be indiscreet,” he said and looked her over. “Unintentionally of course, since she has no idea we had that meaningless one-night stand.”

Color rose and spotted her cheeks. And for several long seconds she felt a kind of riveting connection to him. It was illogical. It was relentless. It made it impossible to ignore him. Or forget the night they’d spent together. Or the way they’d made love. The silence stretched between them, and Mary-Jayne was drawn deep into his smoky gray eyes.

“I don’t have a boyfriend or lover,” she said quietly. “I made that up to stop Solana from asking questions about...” Her words trailed off and she moved back, putting distance between them.

“About what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I really can’t... I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” he asked.

“I can’t do this with you.”

“We’re not doing anything,” he said. “Just talking.”

“That’s just it,” she said, her voice coming out a little strangled. “I’m not ready for this. Not here. Not today. I feel unwell and I—”

“I thought you said you were feeling better?” he asked, cutting her off.

“Well, I’m not, okay? I’m not better. And seeing you here only makes me feel worse.”

“Such brutal honesty. I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended.”

She let out an agonized moan. “That’s just it. I am honest. Always. And seeing you now makes it impossible for me to be anything else. And I’m not ready for it... I can’t do this today. I simply can’t—”

“What are you talking about?” he asked impatiently and cut her off again.

“I’m talking about... I mean... I can’t...”

“Mary-Jayne,” he said, saying her name like he had that night, when he’d said it over and over, against her skin, against her breath. “I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but you’re not making much sense.”

The truth screamed to be told. There was no other way. She couldn’t stop being who she was. She was an honest, forthright person who wore her heart on her sleeve. Mary-Jayne stepped out from behind the chair and spread her hands across her stomach, tightening the baggy shirt over her middle. Highlighting the small bump that hadn’t been there four months ago.

“I’m talking about this.”

Daniel quickly refocused his gaze onto her middle and frowned. “You’re pregnant?”

She nodded and swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“And?”

She shrugged and her hair flipped around her shoulders. Now or never.

“And isn’t it obvious? You’re the father.”

Chapter Three (#ulink_3a1c087a-dedc-5616-8b50-0449c87a5227)

He hadn’t moved. Mary-Jayne looked at him and took a long breath. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out. I was going to call and tell you and—”

“You’re not serious?” he asked, cutting through her words with icy precision.

She nodded. “I’m perfectly serious. I’m pregnant.”

He raised a dark brow. “We used protection,” he said quietly and held up a few fingers. “Three times, three lots of birth control. So your math doesn’t quite work out.”

“My math?” She stared at him. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”

“Nothing,” he replied evenly. “Simply stating an irrefutable fact.”

A fact?

Right. There was no possible way of misunderstanding his meaning. “I’m not lying to you. This baby is—”

“Yours,” he corrected coldly. “And probably the ex-boyfriend who my grandmother said is giving you grief at the moment.”

She fought the urge to rush across the room and slug him. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Ex or otherwise.”

“You do according to my grandmother,” he stated. “Who I trust more than anyone else.”

No punches pulled. He didn’t believe her. Okay. She could handle it. She didn’t care what he thought. “I only told Solana that to stop her from asking questions about why I’ve been unwell.”

He crossed his arms, accentuating his broad shoulders, and stood as still as a statue. He really was absurdly good-looking, she thought, disliking him with every fiber in her body. His gray eyes had darkened to a deep slate color and his almost black hair was short and shiny, and she remembered how soft it had been between her fingertips. His face was perfectly proportioned and he had a small cleft in his chin that was ridiculously sexy. Yes, Daniel Anderson was as handsome as sin. He was also an arrogant, overbearing, condescending so-and-so, and if it weren’t for the fact he was the biological father of her child, she’d happily never see him again.

“Do I really appear so gullible, Miss Preston?”

Miss Preston?

“Gullible? I don’t know what you—”

“If you think naming me in a paternity claim will fatten your bank balance, think again. My lawyers will be all over you in a microsecond.”

His pompous arrogance was unbelievable. “I’m not after your money.”

“Then, what?” he asked. “A wedding ring?”

Fury surged through her. “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man left on the planet.”

Her words seemed to amuse him and he looked at her in such a haughty, condescending way that her palms actually itched with the urge to slap his face. In every way she’d played the scene out in her head, and not once had she imagined he wouldn’t believe that her baby was his. Naive perhaps, but Mary-Jayne had been raised to take someone at their word.

“That’s quite a relief, since I won’t be proposing anytime soon.”

“Go to hell,” she said quietly as emotion tightened her chest, and she drew in a shuddering breath. He pushed her buttons effortlessly. He really was a hateful jerk.

“Not until we’ve sorted out this little mix-up.”

“Mix-up?” She glared at him. “I’m pregnant and you’re the father. This is not a mix-up. This is just how it is.”

“Then, I demand a paternity test.”